A Dulcet Smile
by lella7
Summary: Bellatrix watches an encounter between the teenaged Narcissa and Lucius, unaware that she too is being watched.


**A/N- Having entered far too many challenges, I'm going to have to start combining them. This is written for flutter of angel wings' Most Beautiful English Words Competition with the prompt "dulcet" and Unleash the Snitch114's Black Sisters prompt competition, with the prompt "beauty".**

**Bellatrix is around 19 here and Narcissa around 14. Reviews are love :)**

A Dulcet Smile

"It will be your turn next, Bellatrix."

Bella plastered a false smile on her face as some distant aunt repeated those words she had already heard about four times today.

She excused herself and headed towards the bar, checking the large clock at the front of the hall as she went. It was still nowhere near an acceptable time to leave and she assumed that as a bridesmaid she would be expected to remain until the bitter end.

Fuming, she downed a glass of firewhiskey. She had no idea why she had even been made a bridesmaid to start with. She barely spoke to, much less got along with, the simpering, vacuous bride, who was one of her Rosier cousins. She supposed that, like everything else in life, it was all just political. She was the beautiful Black cousin, to highlight the bride's pureblood credentials, and nothing more. Though, she held a sneaking suspicion that the downright morbid, long, grey, silk dress that had been chosen for her had been designed purely to wash all colour out of her already pale complexion, so that her beauty did not outshine the bride's on her _special _day. Not that she cared about such trivialities.

She spotted yet another middle-aged woman coming towards her and headed briskly outside to the garden to avoid being subjected to another conversation about how she should be getting married soon, how grand her wedding would be and what a lovely bride she would make.

Of course, Bellatrix was not averse to marriage. She fully expected to marry within the next few years, as was proper for her. She was just beginning to get a little frustrated that that was all she had to look forward to.

Settling herself on a bench partly secluded by bushes, she cast her eyes lazily over the smatterings of party guests across the lawn, before focussing on the familiar figure of her youngest sister. Narcissa had been able to pick out her own dress for the occasion and, typically, had gone for something long and pale pink that made Bellatrix think her own hideous dress was not so dreadful after all.

She debated whether to go and talk to Narcissa. On the one hand it might prevent her from being approached by yet more distant relatives she couldn't stand, on the other she didn't think she could bear to listen to her sister talking about the trivial nonsense that tended to fill her head.

However, before she could make up her mind, Narcissa was approached by a boy a year or two older than her whom Bellatrix recognised as Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa flashed him a dulcet smile, peering meekly up at him through fluttering eyelashes. It seemed to work, as Bellatrix could tell from the boy's body language that he was boasting in an attempt to impress the pretty blonde.

Clearly Narcissa did not have the same problem as Bellatrix. Her younger sister was content with smiling sweetly and dazzling men with her beauty. She was everything the sisters had ever been told they should be and she would be happy settling down and becoming nothing more than a wife and mother.

But when Bellatrix thought of that prospect, it filled her with nothing but dread and despair. She wanted to be more than just her beauty. She wanted to _do_ something. She just didn't know what.

Of course she could have gone into the Ministry. As a Black she did not have any need to work, but she was sure her family would have been happy for her to follow a political career. She certainly had the grades, and plenty of family connections which she was sure she could rely upon to prevent questions about certain... blemishes on her school disciplinary records. But she had ultimately decided against it. What she knew of politics told her that it consisted, on the whole, of too many people talking and not enough being done. Whilst she liked the idea of holding a position of power, Bellatrix didn't think she had the patience for it.

But now she had made that decision, there was no option for her but to marry and live a dull life and turn into one of those awful women who kept badgering her about her own wedding.

Narcissa was now looking up at Lucius with traces of that charming, sweet smile on her lips, yet still managing to appear aloof and composed. He nervously offered her his arm, which she accepted graciously and the two teenagers swept elegantly back into the hall.

Bellatrix watched them in frustration, wondering if she was the only person here who felt trapped by all her future held in store, but she still had no idea what to do about it.

Several metres behind her, a tall, thin figure smirked behind his raised hood as her saw these emotions flit through her head. He had a feeling she would become very useful to him indeed.


End file.
